Thursday, November 12, 2009

You may not realize it yet, but a revolution is afoot. I've got 2 words for you: vegan cookies. Here's the deal. Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, the same vegan mavens who gave us my favoritecupcake book, have just unleashed the cookie equivalent. I suspect they know that everything's cuter in pairs (smart ladies!). Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar holds a gorgeous collection of egg and dairy-free recipes for everything from old favorites (like chocolate chip cookies, fudgy brownies, and NYC black & whites) to what're bound to become new classics (like Mexican hot chocolate snickerdoodles and Irish creme kisses). Even adaptations of some store-bought cookies, including Lazy Samoas and Nutter Betters, make an appearance.

By now, you can probably see why I've been salivating since this book arrived last week. In the meantime, I've come up with a plan of action and hope you'll follow along with me!

THE PLAN: I'll bake 4 cookies from Vegan Cookies in celebration of its release, post a review shortly thereafter, and also give away some free copies of it. If you'd like to win one of 3 copies of this book, simply leave a comment including a way to contact you on any post in this series, including this one. I'll pick the winners randomly and announce them together with my review.

Just in the last week it seems, the leaves in my neighborhood have all turned brilliant hues. Inspired by the season, I chose these Spiced Sweet Potato Blondies as my first. Isa and Terry recommend trying the recipe without chocolate "for really gorgeous sweet potato flavor" and they were right. These bars struck a beautiful balance between the autumnal spices and earthy sweet potato. Probably due to my pan choice (my fault, not the recipe's), the blondies were a bit more gooey than I like. All-in-all still an excellent, unique, and indulgent fall treat. They'll definitely be made again with adjustments for texture.

XIAOLU'S NOTES: I used Pyrex glass because that's all I had and so should probably have baked these slightly longer. Also, I stuck with aluminum foil (Pun intended? Yea I'm a dork.) to stay faithful to the recipe, but next time I think I'll really stay with my MO and use parchment since the bars clung to the foil a little.

Line an 8 x 8-inch square metal brownie pan with enough aluminum foil so that it folds over the sides of the pan by about an inch. Spray the bottom of the covered pan with a little nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potato, oil, sugar, brown sugar, nondairy milk, and vanilla until smooth. A few tiny chunks of sweet potato are okay.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. Mix just enough to moisten, then fold in the nuts and chocolate chips, if using. Do not overmix.

Pour mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula [metal works too]. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, checking the bars at 28 minutes by poking a toothpick into the center of the cake. Bars are done if a toothpick comes out mostly clean; a few moist crumbles here and there are okay. Take care not to overbake. Allow the blondies to cool at least 30 minutes for the texture and flavor to fully develop, then slice into 12 bars. Store in a covered container.

MORSELS: A regular old fork is probably the best sweet potato mashing device ever made. Just mash away until it's as creamy as you can get it.

64 comments:

Oh gosh, I love anything sweet potato, and the idea of combining that venerable root veggie with blondie brownies is ingenious! As a fellow fan of VCTOtW, there are few things I'd love more than to own this book too! Thanks for running this contest, and for the amazing photos / reviews / recipes!

Very excited about finding your blog and especially this post. I'm in a transition to vegan from being a veggie and Isa's Vegan with a Vengeance is fast becoming my bible - I didn't realise vegan food would be so delicious!! I've already tried her chocolate muffins - which were amazing - and I was about to order the cupcake book. Now to find out there's a cookie one too is fabulous news. Just can't wait to try out these recipes!

I truly love sweet potato, so I can't wait to give this a try. Are they firm or really sticky? I might try with a little less oil, but I don't want mush either. I've heard the cookbook is fantastic.Twin Tables.

I've become obsessed with sweet potatoes. I practically fantasize about the next time I'll get to eat sweet potatoes. I would be concerned about myself, except, hey, it's sweet potatoes--nothing can be wrong with that kind of infatuation!

Since my roommate is vegan, I've also been on the lookout for good vegan recipes, so this is great on both accounts. Wouldn't mind having the cookbook, either.

Would I love to have that cookbook. I swear I've tried a half dozen vegan blondies recipes in the past year and all I got in return was goop! To be honest though, they also had to be made gluten free; however, I'll bet those blondies and the vegan lemon bars alone worth the price of admission. Oh yeah, I'm at laurelvanblarcum at sbcglobal dot net. Sweet potato blondies, I must be in heaven.

Wow! Thank you all for your enthusiastic response. If you're a fan of sweet potaters (and many of you sound like you are), I really think you'll dig this.

Teresa - I know exactly what you mean. It's fairly easy to get more unusual ingredients in my area, but it's a hassle to make that extra trip when you want cookies NOW. This book really seems to make an effort to use common ingredients.

Joanne - No rush but I do hope you love it!

Frances - Good luck with the transition. I'm not vegan myself but I really admire many of you who are. I have VWaV too and will now have to check out the chocolate muffins. Please do get the cupcake book. Ah-mazing.

Danielle - Yep, veggies make everything healthy =p.

Melissa - Mine did turn out pretty sticky but the edges were nice and chewy so I think a little longer baking time will do the trick.

laurelvb - I'm sorry your previous blondies didn't turn out. These are still on the cakey/soft end but very yummy. FYI this book has tips for making any of the recipes GF.

I am so impressed by all these alternative baking recipes. I was only thinking the other day about investigating some options. Even though am not restricted by foods, because of ethics or allergies, it's fantastic all these new ideas for people so they don't have to go without.

Would definitely be interested in this giveaway - would be a great theme for a month! If I win, you can contact me through my blog, or Twitter!

Those blondies do look fabulous! I tend to like my blondies on the fudgy-side, but I don't know if it is your pan. I have had issues with some of Isa's cookie/bar type recipes ending up too gooey before. Still, sounds like a great cookbook!

I made these yesterday, to use up some leftover prepared, T-giving sweet potatoes from the weekend. They were simple enough to make (doubled the recipe in accordance to the amount of mashed sweets I wanted to transform), and turned out delightfully well...! Moist and delicious -- this recipe is a Keeper for sure...

Hi from Sergiyev Posad, a small city in Russia! It's freezing cold here and as I get home from work, all covered in snow, I'm longing for a cup of Russian tea with a cookie... vegan, of course. Thank you for this giveaway and I hope to win a copy!Daschadasch.work@gmail.com

Wow! This is a great recipe: I made it with tons of nuts, BOTH walnut and pecans, cuz I love nuts (and like a little protein with my sugar). I reduced sugar, and even with all the nuts, still tastes like a dessert ( a hearty one)! Delicious. The chocolate chips add that extra delight. I love how moist they are. Thanks for this, vegan baking rocks!

Excellent! And I really loved your input about the pan and the parchment paper...that was soooo helpful cuz that's what I use. Thanks for doing this, your blog is SUPER!!! Sending Aloha, Terri neptoon@hawaiilink.net

Made this recipe with canned pumpkin in place of the sweet potato (not intended) and it turned out great! Followed the recipe exactly (except for the mental lapse in grabbing pumpkin instead of sweet potato) and used parchment. Looking forward to trying the sweet potato version next time!